Musings from Students of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem
Posted on March 9, 2012 by Barer
In reading this week’s parsha, which describes the events surrounding the sin of the Golden Calf, one question continued to nag at me. Why does Moshe break the tablets upon seeing the Israelites worshiping the Golden Calf? The answer many of us grew up with is that Moshe came upon the scene and was so Continue Reading »
Posted on March 2, 2012 by Barer
This week’s parsha deals exclusively with the intricacies involved in creating the garments to be worn by the priests, specifically the Kohen Gadol, the High Priest. Most of the traditional commentators are nearly silent for much of the parsha, which is not extremely surprising, as many of them saw their aim as being elucidating the Continue Reading »
Posted on February 24, 2012 by Barer
This week’s parsha is chalk-full of measurement details for the building of the Mishkan (Tabernacle), which leaves little room for inspirational lessons. Fortunately for me, the Rashbam took this opportunity to answer one of my long-standing questions – when does the Rashbam feel it necessary to add his own commentary and when is he happy Continue Reading »
Posted on February 17, 2012 by Barer
In a parsha full of laws, a mere few verses of which are the basis of years worth of Gemarah study (Seder Nezikin), I came across an episode having nothing to do with the minutiae of laws that I do not remember reading before. Near the end of the parsha, there is a scene described where Continue Reading »
Posted on February 10, 2012 by Barer
This week’s parsha, among a few other things that regularly and justifiably receive less attention, contains the עשרת הדברות (never called any title in the text itself), somewhat loosely translated as the Ten Commandments (more literal would be the Ten Utterances). What stood out to me reading them this year was the conditional nature of Continue Reading »
Posted on February 3, 2012 by Barer
In this week’s parsha the Israelites truly become free, as they finally and unmistakably escape from the Egyptians, singing jubilantly after seeing the Egyptians drown in the Red Sea. Immediately after the Song of the Sea, we are introduced to one of the motifs of the time in the midbar (while traditionally translated desert, there Continue Reading »
Posted on January 27, 2012 by Barer
In this week’s parsha, the story of the ten plagues ends, and Bnei Yisrael (the Children of Israel) finally leave Egypt. One source of potential moral consternation is the collecting of all sorts of goods on the part of the Israelites from their (former) Egyptian slave-masters. Hashem gives the instructions for the fulfillment of a Continue Reading »
Posted on January 20, 2012 by Barer
This week’s parsha documents the well-known story of Moshe and Aharon repeatedly coming before Pharoah asking to go worship Hashem, only to be repeatedly rebuffed, even in the fact of nasty plagues (this week’s parsha has the first eight). There are so many points of focus to pick from when you are dealing with the Continue Reading »
Posted on January 13, 2012 by Barer
For this week’s parsha, I wanted to give over a small portion of a class I had the privilege of attending given by Shmuel Klitsner, talking about the strange episode at the Malon (inn), in which Hashem, or some representative, tries to kill Moshe. Shmuel drew a number of fascinating connections between this episode and Continue Reading »
Posted on January 5, 2012 by Barer
This week marks the end of Bereishit (Genesis). The parsha is focused on the blessings that Yaakov/Yisrael gives his twelve sons, but I want to focus on the end of the parsha. After the blessings, Yaakov/Yisrael “expires” – the biblical phrase for dying. Since he asked to be buried in the Cave of Machpelah (which Continue Reading »
